The Glow of the Firefly
by LuxKaneva
Summary: Jace Wayland is in trouble. Again. Spending his summer fixing one of the wealthiest businessmen's enormous garden as community service isn't his ideal idea of fun. But the only daughter of the rich family may be able to change his mind...
1. Daddy's Home

The Glow of the Firefly

Chapter 1: Daddy's Home

The judge brought her gavel down on the table and there was immediate silence in the court room. Her brown hair was parted to the side in a heap with plenty of hair spray. A little bit more than needed, actually. Her glasses were perched on the tip of her nose as her eyes surveyed the file in front of her. She looked like a typical 45-year old woman terribly bored of her job.

"Mr. Wayland," she said in a monotone. "You are a twelfth grade student at Lindlen High School, correct?"

Jace Wayland clenched his jaw. Standing in a court room was not his ideal idea of a Saturday morning, but his lawyer gave him a stern look and he replied with as much boredom as he could muster, "Yes."

"Good. Now, Mr. Wayland, do you know why you are here this morning?"

Now she was asking questions? She already knew what he had done. Otherwise he wouldn't even be here.

"If I didn't, I'd be doing something better with my time," he drawled and then hastily adding, "Ma'am."

Jace's lawyer dug his elbow into his side, "If you want to spend the rest of your summer in jail, Jace, I recommend that you _cut_ the attitude," he fiercely whispered in the high schooler's ear.

The eighteen year old boy rolled his eyes, but complied. The judge stared at Jace as if saying _those goddamn teenagers_ and then sighed.

"Well, Mr. Wayland, then you'd be happy to inform us."

Happy? Oh he'd be happy to tell her something alright. He opened his mouth to give a snarky reply, but he once again felt an elbow digging into his skin and fixed his words. "Of course," Jace said through his teeth. "I was seen on the property of Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild involved in damaging their land and house." _This isn't fair_, he thought. As soon as the word fair popped into his mind, he was reminded of his father leaning close into his face, breath stinking of alcohol. _Life isn't fair, kid._

"Yes. Are you aware of the consequences of your actions?"

"Yeah, but that isn't the full story," he blurted. The judge raised her eyebrows and gave him time to continue. "I showed up when all that stuff already happened! I didn't do anything, I swear!"

"I'm sorry Mr. Wayland, but this proof says otherwise." She held up a photo of him. He recognized it, having gone through all the "evidence" the night before.

"It's fake."

"Excuse me?"

"The photo. It's fake. I was set up by a guy named Seba-"

""Mr. Wayland, denying involvement, but then further arguing that the evidence is false can put you in more trouble." He clenched his fists in frustration. He was so going to beat the hell out of Verlac when he got out of jai-

"The evidence and your statement bring us to our conclusion. The court unanimously agrees that you, Mr. Jace Wayland, are to be sentenced to seventy-five hours of community service to be performed at the Fairchild mansion. You are to repair the all the damages on their property that you were responsible for on the night of May 23rd. Do you understand?"

Community service? Well, it's better than jail. There was nothing to do now, but accept his punishment, whether he did the crime or not. Defeated, Jace answered, "Yes, your honor."

The judge slightly tilted her head up in approval, as though she had finally crushed the spirit of the handsome young man. "Good." And once again she beat her gavel hard upon the wood and the chit chatter of the court room resumed as everyone shuffled out.

"Well that wasn't too bad was it?"

"Whatever you say, Hodge," Jace muttered. "Some lawyer you are."

Hodge ran a hand through his graying hair. "Jace, I already told you. I tried to talk to them, but this Sebastian guy got you good. The best you can do is lay low and finish these hours to avoid any more trouble."

"Well just remember, being a good guy backfired. I knew it wasn't worth trying," Jace snapped, his eyes dark.

Hodge frowned, "If saving your sister from a world of suffering isn't worth anything to you, Jace, I don't know what is." He brushed past the arrogant golden-haired boy and opened the swinging doors of the court room into the bright sunny day.

Ignoring his lawyer's last remark, Jace groaned, "It is _way _too happy outside."

"Well we won't be outside for long, pretty boy."

Jace scowled, loosening the tie around his neck. He hated when Hodge called him that. "What do you mean by 'we'? Where're we going?"

"Home," Hodge promptly answered, opening the door of his car. He threw the files into the back seat and motioned for Jace to sit shotgun.

"What? Why?" he asked, confused. No one was ever really home. His dad was always on business trips, being the CEO of the largest textile industries in the world. His sister was doing god knows what and his brother was always at the library.

"Well, someone's got to get daddy's little boy out of anymore trouble and I have to email him."

Jace groaned again, "Jesus, Hodge, I already told you I didn't do it. Plus, you can call him from your cell for all I care. You don't need to take me home for that. It's not like he gives a shit anyway. I can take care of myself; I'm eighteen."

"Do you hear yourself? I'm driving you home from the court after being accused of trashing one of the wealthiest businessmen's mansion and being sentence to a month of community service. You're not exactly in the best position to be bragging about your age, Mr. Adult."

Giving up, Jace slumped into his seat, further loosening his tie in the sweltering heat. "Honestly how do people wear suits every day?" he grumbled.

At that moment, Hodge's cell phone went off. "Hello...Already? All right, I'll let him know." A split second later, he swerved the car into a sharp right turn, barely making it onto the highway in time.

"Whoa, Hodge! How long has it been since your license expired?!" Jace cried.

"Brace yourself. There's been a slight change of plans."

"What? Why; where're we going now?"

"The airport. Your father's plane landed ten minutes ago."

**Hey guys, I'm baaaaaaa-aaaaack! So the other day I was sitting on my porch swing just staring into the hot summer night and BOOM I got an idea for a new story. I got really excited and started to write it. I'm back on fanfiction so feel free to message me anytime! This is the first chapter of many yet to come. It's different than Drowning (for those of you that have read it), but I feel good about it and I think I can take it in a positive direction. **

**Sooooo tell me what you think! I usually decide on continuing based on the numbers of reviews I get in the first couple of chapters because it shows me whether I should keep going or slow the hell down and reorganize my thought processes. Anyway enough of me blabbing, go ahead write a review!**

**~Lux**

**(P.S. LuxKaneva is my official pen name, so I'll be signing off with that now. It means bright canvas in Latin. I love it. ****) **

**Also, some of the Mr._ or Mrs._ may not come up on the fanfic format. If it doesn't let me know, and tell me if I can do anything to fix that. Thanks!**


	2. One Big Happy Family

**HEY GUYS! So finals are finally over! Haha, see what I did there…finals…finally…he. Anyway, I can finally get back to the story. I'm really happy to see that there is some genuine interest. **

**BEFORE YOU START READING, I wanted to point out a couple things important to the story. The first couple of chapters may be a little short, but they WILL get longer. Two, this story is going to be sorta long. I mean I really like to develop character and relationships between characters, so stick with me. There may be a couple of filler chapter to make the story flow as well. Third, CLARY WILL BE INTRODUCED IN THE CHAPTER AFTER THIS ONE! Fourth, author's notes won't ever be this long in the future.**

**Starting off with Jace as the first character was a little weird and interesting at the same time for me and I'm seeing how it plays out. He isn't going to be the lead, lead character, but he is obviously very important. However, there will be a lot more of Clary. That's pretty much all I have to say right now so enjoy!**

**(Oh and also, SUMMER! YAY! Have a great summer guys and do fun things! Again, feel free to message me or review me or anything because I read every single thing anyone sends me. Thanks!)**

Chapter Two: One Big Happy Family

"If you're going to wear a suit, wear it right. Fix your tie, Jonathan."

Jonathan. How he hated that name, especially coming from his father's mouth. Jace sloppily redid his tie and gave a sarcastic smile. "Happy?"

Michael Wayland gave his son a cold look before opening the door of the passenger's side."Welcome home, Daddy," Jace murmured under his breath before sliding into the back seat. Through the window, Hodge gave him a pointed look that clearly said _watch what you say or you'll be in for it._

Jace rolled his eyes in response and then settled into the awkward silence that ensued on the drive home. About ten minutes later Hodge cleared his throat, trying to pry Jace's father's attention away from his smart phone for just a few minutes.

"Michael," he began, "Ja-Jonathan got into a little trouble while you were away and-"

Michael Wayland's eyes narrowed, "I want to hear this from my _son's_ mouth. Jonathan?"

Jace sighed. He wasn't about to explain that this whole mess wasn't his fault and that he was framed. He wasn't about to explain he had given up on trying to get in trouble, because it clearly wasn't working. His father wouldn't care enough to understand that. He decided to just say it as it was and what the consequences were without getting into too much detail. His goal was to have the shortest possible conversation with his dad.

"A party got a little out of hand and we trashed a rich guy's house," Jace stated plainly. "I have community service."

"Well, that's better than jail," said Michael as if he was used to this kind of behavior from his son. "Hodge, make sure this doesn't get out to the media; you know how they get. Jonathan, after you have completed your hours, you'll be coming with me on my trips to start your training for handling the position. We'll see how you get into trouble then."

Jace closed his eyes. They had talked about this. "Dad, I don't want to take over the position. I know nothing about it and I hate it anyway."

"I didn't ask you whether you wanted to or not. This is final. Your training will provide you with all the knowledge you need."

"But, Da-"

"This conversation is over," said his father, raising his voice. Jace looked calm, but he was fuming inside. Ever since he had turned fifteen all his father ever talked about was his future place in the business. He'll manage this, and he'll manage that and he'll take it to unknown heights and blah blah. There had been fights for hours about why Alec couldn't take over, or why he couldn't go to college like all the other kids at school, but they would all boil down to one answer. Michael Wayland's answer. He was taking over. Period. He never knew it would come so soon.

Hodge turned the car into the incredibly long drive way and parked. Both father and son got out without a word. The Wayland family had almost everything one would expect from a cliché millionaire family. The fancy cars, the enormous mansion, the splendid fountain in the front lawn adorned by expensive statues and flowers with colors so vivid, they'd almost seem fake, but they didn't have a butler, or even a maid of any kind. Michael was away so often that they didn't even need one. Also the fact that they weren't exactly a family was pretty important.

Jace raced up the grand staircase and into his room, immediately flopping down onto his bed. He could still faintly hear the deep voice of his father talking to Hodge. "I announced the news during a conference in Germany. They should be-"

Jace groaned and threw his soccer ball at the open door, slamming it shut and drowning out the voices of the two men downstairs. He didn't know why or how his father expecting him to be the next CEO of Herondale Textiles. Did he mention that his extended family owned the company too? Besides, it wasn't like a CEO position was just handed down to next son in line. You had to be qualified, and Michael Wayland was determined to make his son qualified.

He glanced at the clock sitting on the nightstand. It was 10:30. Having nothing better to do, Jace did what he always did when life was hitting him in the face and he was living in the ninth ring of Hell. He ripped his tie off and quickly unbuttoned his shirt changing into a soccer jersey and a pair of shorts. God, that suit was probably the most uncomfortable thing he had ever worn. He had no idea how he was supposed to wear one for the rest of his life. Pretty much, he was doomed.

He did a quick scan of his room, making sure anything that he didn't want his dad to see wasn't peeking out. Before heading out, he gently kicked some college brochures under his bed just for good measure.

Grabbing his shoes and his soccer ball, he went down the same set of stairs and swept into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Not to his surprise, Michael was on the phone with about fifteen different files and a beer sitting on the counter in front of him. He put his hand on the phone, "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, seeing Jace's apparel.

Holding up the soccer ball, he replied, "Where do you think I'm going, _Dad_?"

Michael glared at Jace and opened his mouth to reply but quickly diverted to responding to some other "important" client or whatever. Jace shook his head. This was the usual.

He pushed the glass door into the sunny day while digging out his cell phone. A missed call from his brother and a text from his sister: I'll be out late, don't wait up." Jace smirked and quickly replied, "Dad's home."

He called his brother back while throwing his stuff into the seat.

"Hello?"

"Alec. What's up?"

"I just called to see how the whole court thing went. How was it? Did you tell them it wasn't your fault?"

"Yeah."

"Did it help?"

"Not really."

"What'd you get?"

"Community service."

"Hey, it's not jail," said Alec. Jace smiled.

"Yeah that's what I thought too. Oh yeah, Dad's home."

"Yay…"

"Hey, at least he's not forcing the business on you, so shut up."

"You know why, we've been over this. If I was his real son, I'd already been in line for the job. Besides, you two are both blonde. It looks better in the newspapers and Forbes magazines. Handsome son of successful CEO taking over the reins."

"Whatever, I'm heading to the field, you wanna join?"

"Nah, I'm busy. Hey, tell Dad I said he's an asshole."

"Well, aren't we one big happy family?"

"You got it, brother."

**Reviews would be appreciated! **


	3. The Golden Boy

**Sorry for the late update. I was out of town. Enjoy :) **

Chapter Three: The Golden Boy

Clary and Maia were tilting their heads a little to the left, taking in a full body scan of the boys huddled around the water fountain.

"So you think he may have done it, huh?" Maia asked, not taking her eyes off the group.

"I'm positive", replied Clary, her eyebrows pinched together in anger. "I mean who else could it be? I don't make enemies and he's like their little ring leader, right? So, it couldn't be anyone else."

"Clary," Maia sighed, taking her sight off of the boys and turning to look at her best friend, "it was a party! You know how these people get at parties! They get all stupid and wild and say 'Yolo' a bunch of times as an excuse for their dumb shit decisions!"

"Yeah, but it was at _my_ house! Who's brilliant plan could it have been to throw a party at the fancy shmancy house of business man Fairchild _the_ night I just happened to be working a night shift to cover your ass and there was nobody at home, hm?" she retorted, crossing her arms.

"First of all, it was my first date in months; it's your duty to abide by the girl code. Second, you wouldn't even be working if you weren't trying to be so freaking independent, you're already set for life at the rate of money your dad is making, and third, you can't just prop accusations on people like that. There's a very good chance he wasn't the one that made your house look like the monkey exhibition from Southpark Zoo."

Clary studied her friend's firm expression for a full minute. "You just think he's hot." She turned on her heel for a little dramatic effect before stomping out of the gym and into the girl's locker room.

"No!" Maia insisted. "Well, yeah, I think he's hot. It's an established fact that there's a ninety six percent chance he is the legitimate son of Apollo, I mean have you _seen_ a jaw that sharp? HOWEVER, that's not why I'm saying he may not be at fault."

"Whatever, I'm just glad school's ending tomorrow, so I can get a break from these dipwads called teenagers."

"And you say you don't make enemies?"

"Well, you know, besides Aline and Kaelie and Sarah and Hailey and Becca," she paused, "yeah that's about it, but there's no way any of them could have done anything. They could never throw a toilet paper roll ten feet, let alone on the roof of my unnecessarily giant house."

"You're probably the first person I've met who hates being rich and being handed things," Maia said, pulling her school t-shirt over her head and shoving her gym one into her bag.

"And yet, you love me," Clary gave her an over the top smile and exited the building. "Anyway, I'm going to the library to study for the math final tomorrow, wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure. God knows I need it. I hate math," Maia groaned. "Stupid finals ruining the last days of school."

"Hm, maybe you'll see your little Jacey poo there," she replied making little cooing noises at her best friend.

"Shut up," Maia snapped, giving Clary a shove and marching ahead of her on the way to the car.

Clary hoisted her bag over her shoulder and pushed open the door, exiting from the exam hall. Her eyes scanned the busy crowd of teenagers laughing and throwing crumpled, no longer needed sheets of notes everywhere. It was scarily similar to a zoo.

She finally spotted Maia standing the middle of two mobs looking terrified. Clary laughed, making her way over to her. "WE'RE DONE! HALLELUJAH!"

"Yeah, yeah, yay, now can we PLEASE get out of here?!" The brunette's face was becoming more panic-stricken by the second.

"Sure, wanna go to your house?" Clary proposed hopefully.

Maia gave her a knowing look, "Clary, I've been your best friend for how many years now? You don't have to be ashamed of your house just because it has toilet paper and silly string all over it. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I, on the other hand, have every reason to be embarrassed."

Clary rolled her eyes, "C'mon Eric and Sam aren't that bad."

"Do you know how weird it is to see my fourteen year old brother try and flirt with you?! It's mildly revolting."

"It's kinda cute," Clary said smiling, "to see his wittle hormones just jumping out of their cage."

Maia made a face. "Wow, okay, that's one way to describe things. Like it or not," she said, snatching Clary's car keys out of her hand, "we are going to your house."

The duo shoved their way out of the building, nearly gasping for breath as they finally reached the fresh outdoor air. Maia scanned the parking lot for Clary's car. It wasn't that hard to spot regarding the fact that it was probably the second most expensive automobile there. The most expensive one was Jace Wayland's. Not that he was any richer than Clary, but the hot-tempered redhead simply refused to let her parents buy her a car more than ninety thousand dollars. The car was also along with the fact that she demanded to go to a public school instead of a private one like the rest of the rich kids. For her, being rich was one of the main struggles in her life.

Spotting the shiny yellow Bentley on the east side of the lot, Maia made her way over, a grumbling Clary following close behind. They noticed that Jace's car wasn't in its usual premium parking spot. Being the most worshipped guy in school, he of course, had his "special" parking space. Talk about cliché.

Clary figured he probably left to go "celebrate" and by celebrate she meant get lucky. She got into the passenger side of the car, waiting for Maia to drive. She noticed a dazed look on her face. "Hey, stop daydreaming about your golden boy toy and start the car or I won't let you drive again."

"Geez what it with you and accusing people? You don't know what I was thinking about."

Clary didn't say a word and stared straight ahead. After about thirty seconds, Maia relented, "But he's just so pretty…-"

"Just drive." Clary replied, shaking her head.

The Bentley rolled into the extensive driveway of the Fairchild mansion. "Hey just to let you know," Maia said while getting out of the car, "I'm gonna be crashing here tonight. Sam's gonna have all his dumb friends over tonight and I don't think I'll survive one minute of it."

"God you're so melodramatic."

"Uh, says the girl who is obsessed with the idea that 'Oh my god, the hottest boy in school completely destroyed my home!'" She mockingly rested the back of her hand on her forehead, all damsel in distress like, while mimicking Clary in a high-pitched voice.

"Oh my god, you're so funny."

"Hahaha, you're so funny," Maia imitated. They bickered like twin sisters. It would be almost impossible to tell they weren't siblings if it weren't for the stark differences in appearances. They rounded the corner of the house to go the backyard. "Ew, when are you guys gonna get rid of all this crap though?" Maia asked while trying to scrape a piece of toilet paper off the bottom of her shoe by rubbing it against the grass. When Clary didn't respond with some sarcastic reply, Maia looked up. She followed her gaze in the same direction as Clary and immediately understood the reason for her silence and for look of anger slowly appearing on her face.

There he was, in all his glory, Mr. Jace Wayland casually slumped in one of the Fairchild's garden chairs not even bothering to look like he was listening to the strict directions being given by Clary's father who was sitting in the chair across from the golden boy.

Clary, not remotely trying to hide her presence, marched up to the table at which her parents and her least favorite person in the world were seated. "What the _hell_ is _he_ doing here?!"

**Reviews would be lovely :) **


	4. Long Summer Ahead

**Hi guys! I am so excited because my computer is working again! My cousins (that I hadn't met until last week) came to visit and turns out that one of them is good with computers! So my laptop is up and running without the ninety-something fee. That's a win.**

**So, anyway, thank you so, so much for your patience. It's amazing that you're actually reading this right now, wow, sorry! Stop reading this and move your damn eyes to the chapter!**

Chapter Four: Long Summer Ahead

Clary quickly examined the scene in front of her; her anger slightly blurring her view of everything. Her parents were dressed in nice, pastel colors, like a rich British family lounging on a sunny Sunday afternoon for tea. Her large house stood magnificently surrounded by a neighborhood of slightly smaller homes. The beautiful garden wrapped around the mansion, brightening up the area with reds, blues, yellows, lush greens and other brilliant colors of the rainbow and the small back porch garden table set with old Victorian style white chairs completed their backyard; an elegant stain glass finish set on top. (Minus all the crap from the night of party)

And then there was Jace.

He sat slumped, completely relaxed, in one of their garden chairs acting as if he owned the place. He had a gray t-shirt on underneath an open red flannel shirt. With dark blue jeans and a slim black leather jacket to top it all off, Jace successfully pulled off the whole 'bad boy' look and stuck out like a sore thumb in his elegant surroundings.

Not that Clary cared much about clothing or the whole décor of her house, but she was just down-right irritated when she saw his legs propped up on one of their side tables, his mud caked sneakers dirtying the white paint. Sure, all their stuff was merely rich merchandise to show off to clients and other business friends, but who the hell was he to just strut in and announce his dominance on _her_ property?

Clary took all this in, in about sixty seconds while she stood there waiting to hear a response from her father. All three of their heads were turned to look at her as if her presence surprised them. Her mother, with a look that read, 'Oh, sweetie, you're home,' her father with a don't-jump-to-conclusions-and-don't-make-a-big-sce ne look and Jace with an expression that said he couldn't care less. Shocker.

Clary crossed her arms, her eyebrows still raised in an 'um, hello' sort of fashion. Maia stood quietly behind like a bystander, a curious glint in her eye.

"Clary," her father started, in an almost defeated tone. He knew his daughter wasn't about to tolerate any side-tracked conversation so he addressed the issue (the issue being Jace himself). "This is Jonathan Wayland." Jace gave her a small wave of acknowledgement which she promptly ignored.

"Yeah I know who he is. Why is he _here_?" she demanded. Normally, she wouldn't have used such a tone with her dad. They were a family of respect. Of course, they didn't wear sixty-thousand dollar outfits everyday and lift their pinkies during tea time (they didn't drink tea either), but they had a sophisticated way of life. Nonetheless, here was a boy she knew he father wasn't fond of either, so she was pretty sure she could get away with it.

Jace looked amused, but her Mr. Fairchild didn't show the least surprise in his daughter's attitude and remained professional. "Since Jonathan was responsible for the property damages, he is also responsible to make sure that the property returns to its previous, clean condition by the end of the summer." Aha! She _knew_ he was the one who was behind all this. She quickly glanced at her best friend still standing quietly behind her with a look of triumph, before returning back to her angry and astonished state.

"But Dad that would take weeks! Months, even!" she exclaimed. She quickly shot a glance to see what Jace's expression betrayed, but it was exactly what she expected. A stupid, smug grin. He was enjoying this wasn't he, the bast-

"Precisely," Mr. Fairchild replied to his daughter's incredulous response. It was almost as if he enjoyed the thought of making a young, troubled boy spend his last high school summer slaving away at _gardening_.

Clary was quiet for a moment, making sure she was correctly understanding the situation. "So you're telling me that he is going to be in our yard, at our house, cleaning, for the WHOLE summer?! Nuh-uh, that is not gonna happen. Sor-ry." Clary completely ignored the fact that she was arguing with her dad, complaining like a little girl about a person who was sitting right in front of her. Why did she care what Jace thought of her anyway? It wasn't like she cared that he was probably the most gorgeous human being she had ever seen…

Mr. Fairchild raised his eyebrows, "Would you rather let him off the hook and not make him pay for his actions?" She huffed, trying to get the blonde boy out of her head and continue what she was saying before. She hated Jace, remember?

"Isn't there another option, like can't he go to juvi for a month or something?" Clary couldn't believe her dad was about the let the biggest asshat in school spend two months right outside her bedroom window. There was no way that was going to happen. Period.

"No. This is the court's decision and that is final. No arguments. Period." Clary opened her mouth and closed it again. Clearly, it was her father's ruling over hers. She shot a wry look at Jace who had been sitting quietly through the whole conversation about him. He looked like he was itching to make some sort of smartass comment throughout the whole conversation, but Clary knew he was smarter than that. And she hated him for it.

Clary glanced at her mother, who also had a stern look on her face. The young high school graduate crossed her arms as a sign of sign of defeat and stormed inside the house, not wanting to be around him for a moment longer. She was torn. Of course she wanted Jace to have to give up his summer and suffer every second, being forced to pick up nasty silly string and pieces of toilet paper off her lawn. Of course she wanted him to spend every moment of regretting the stupid decision he made to pick her house to trash, but she didn't want him hanging around _her_ for the next two months. Knowing him, he wasn't about to let her actually enjoy her summer while _he_ was there.

She groaned in frustration. There was no way out and that's what she's going to have to deal with for the next eight weeks. Oh boy, oh boy. "Why?" she asked to no one in particular. "Why me?"

Maia plopped herself down onto the sofa next to her friend. "Oh stop. This isn't that bad and you know it. Drama queen."

"Um, excuse me," Clary said defensively, holding her index finger up as if it made her point stronger, "I am not being a drama queen. How would you like it if the most assholish, annoying, two-faced-"

"-hottest guy on earth with a body better than David Beckham was spending his summer working at the home of a young single and attractive girl, toiling in the mud and dirt, getting all sweaty and potentially even taking his shirt off for brief periods of time? Tragedy," she finished with a dead face look.

Clary narrowed her eyes at Maia. "Clearly there is no point in talking to you since you're _blindly in love with him_!"

"I am not," Maia stubbornly replied. "You just don't realize that this is a gift. Oh my gosh, what if he did all this on purpose, just to get closer to you? Aw, that is so romantic!"

"That's it," Clary said, getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen, "I'm officially going to check you into a mental ward."

"Hey, it's all in the romance novels. You would know if you'd actually read the books I lend you!" Maia insisted, following Clary. She sat across her best friend at the kitchen island and proceeded to enlighten her on the ways of love.

"The only reason I don't read those," Clary started, walking across the tile to grab a glass, "is because they're full of shit."

"How do you know if you've never even read them, hmm?" demanded Maia.

"I just do," argued Clary, "just like how I know that nothing good is going to come of the next two months."

Maia sighed, "Whatever. If I was in your place, I'd be so happy right now."

"You know what," said Clary, closing the refrigerator door with her foot and turning to pour orange juice into her glass, "that's actually not a bad idea. You stay here for the summer and I live at your house. You'll get your eye-candy and I'll get my peace! I'm freaking brilliant."

Maia laughed, "Yeah, sure, if your idea of peace is a hormone crazy fourteen-year old and a talentless sixteen-year old who thinks he's the next best metal drummer in the world, then go ahead and have a blast at my house. Plus, you know my parents aren't exactly your biggest fans."

"Ugh," Clary rested her forehead on the cool granite countertop. "There is no way out, is there? I'm stuck with him."

"Okay chillax chica, it's not like you're gonna get married to him. If you want to spend your summer at least somewhat peacefully, make a truce with him. Like a...a…like a peace treaty sort of thing." She popped an almond into her mouth.

"Yeah, I guess so. Alright, so what will you tell him?" Clary asked, looking expectantly at Maia.

Maia stopped mid-chew, starting right back at the red-head. "What."

"The…the peace treaty thing; what'll you tell him?"

"Oh, ha, ha, don't pin this on me, Clary. I'm not doing the dirty work for you," she got up off the chair and made her way to her shoes. "You," she said, slipping her foot into one flip flop, "are going to have to actually _talk_ to him. Crazy right?" She smirked, putting on her second flip flop and heading out the front door.

Clary sighed. She knew Maia was right, but was cross with her anyway. "Bitch," she muttered under her breath. The sound of Maia's laughter as she exited the stone path of the Fairchild's front yard informed Clary that she had been heard. "You deserved it!" she called out louder, padding out onto the path so Maia could hear her.

She didn't stick around for a response from the brunette, but heard a faint, "You can't run away from your problems, Clare-bear!" She couldn't help but laugh at her annoyingly lovable friend, but the laughter soon vanished from her expression as her father and Jace rounded the corner to the front of her house. Oh no. Jace saw her. Shouting like an idiot. She felt the heat rise up to her cheeks, but then scolded herself for doing so. Why did she care what he thought anyway?

"So, any questions?" Mr. Fairchild asked Jace although he looked like he was daring the arrogant boy to even speak a word.

"No, sir," Jace replied, like a perfect angel and Clary narrowed her eyes in contempt.

"Good. I expect you to be here at nine a.m. sharp tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Clary, honey, if you have anything specific to say, now's the time." He nodded at his daughter, telling her to go on and then proceeded to take a phone call, heading inside the house. As soon as her father was gone there was silence. Complete silence. Unnerving silence. And the fact that the focus of Jace's eyes were now on her wasn't making it any easier.

Jace put his hands in his pockets and slightly cocked his head to the side. "Well…?"

Clary was at a loss of words. She had never actually spoken to him before. All those times at her father's business events and parties, she had only hated him from afar. She witnessed all the stupid and crazy things he did from a safe distance. But now; now he was standing right in front of her.

And that was the worst part. She had always known that he was the handsome one. Always. Anywhere he went, he was the one that everyone noticed as he entered the room. But this was new. Standing only five feet away, she could clearly see every breath-taking detail that made him the god of Lindlen High. The sculpted cheekbones, the edge of his lips curved up on one side in a delicious smirk, soft, blonde curls adorning his head like a golden crown in the light of the setting sun, his eyes, oh, his eyes, there were no words to describe them, and the sharp angle of his jaw continuing down the edge of his face…she trailed her eyes down his strong collarbone and started to imagine the fine muscle tone hidden beneath his t-shirt when-

"Ahem," Jace softly cleared his throat, revealing a small, but dashing smile in amusement. "You can take your time any other day to admire me, but right now I kinda wanna go home."

Clary rolled her eyes. Yep. There was the Jace she knew and she wasn't about to let him get to her. "Go ahead. Enjoy your last few hours of freedom, Wayland." Hell yeah, that was sass right there and she was proud of it. She mirrored the smirk on Jace's face and turned her back on him, heading towards the door. She had just reached the foot of her door when she heard the second full sentence ever spoken to her by the oh-so-glorious Jonathan Wayland.

"You may not want me here now Clary, but by the end of summer, you'll be pleading for me to stay."

**So…?**

**How was it? Let me know! Any constructive criticism is very much encouraged! **

**Oh and are there any ****TEEN WOLF**** FANS OUT THERE?! My friend introduced me to it AND I WATCHED ALL THREE SEASONS IN LIKE TWO WEEKS! SLKFJSLKJA;LSKFSLDKFLS!**

**Can I just say I am OBSESSED with Isaac. He is so. damn. hot. and. beautiful. Like he is how I picture Jace, but instead of light brown hair, blonde hair, obviously. SO GORGEOUS! Okay I better go work on the next chapter I OWE YOU GUYS FOR THE WAIT.**

**TO EVERYONE: THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR WAITING, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME.**

**Lux**


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